Grand Duchy of Westarctica

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Grand Duchy of Westarctica
Flag	Arms
Motto: Esse quam videri (English: To be rather than seem) Musical Anthem: God Save Westarctica, by ?

Location:	Marie Byrd Land, Balleny Islands and Peter I Island, Antarctica
Co-ordinates:	58°60'S, 90°35'W (Peter I Island)
Area:	1,610,000 km²
Capital:	Peter I Island
Membership:	< 10
Date of foundation:	2 November 2001
Leadership:	Travis McHenry
Organisational structure:	Constitutional monarchy
Language:	English
Currency:	Westarctican Dollar

The Grand Duchy of Westarctica is a micronation founded by Travis McHenry (born 4 June 1980), an actor,^[1] cryptozoologist,^[2] and former US Navy sailor, who was at the time residing in Norfolk, Virginia.

It was created on 2 November 2001, when McHenry announced his intention of taking personal possession of the wedge-shaped section of the Antarctic continent known as Marie Byrd Land, by writing to the governments of Russia, France, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Travis McHenry, founder and former Grand Duke of Westarctica.

Marie Byrd Land is not claimed by any of the signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, however it was claimed in the early 1990s by the Dominion of Melchizedek. Several earlier micronations had also asserted territorial pretensions to the region - some extending to as far back as the 1930s.

McHenry initially named his micronation the Achaean Territory of Antarctica (apparently inspired by the works of Homer), before adopting the Westarctican grand duchy configuration on 10 June, 2004. In the same year he also extended its territorial pretensions to encompass the sub-Antarctic Baleny Islands group (a part of New Zealand's Ross Dependency), and Peter I Island (a part of the Norwegian Antarctic claim).

Apart from instituting a constitution establishing the Grand Duchy as a “Protestant Christian nation", announcing on Westarctica's website that a “relocation project” involving the “construction of new cities” commenced in 2003 and selling several Westarctican peerages on eBay, little of any substance followed.

On 14 January 2006 McHenry terminated his association with Westarctica, naming Philip Karns as his successor. Karns also abandoned the micronation several months later, disappearing without naming a successor, and taking the Westarctica website with him. On 30 June 2008 Jon-Lawrence Langer, a member of Westarctica who resides in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, announced the micronation's revival with the establishment of a new website, and his assumption of the position of Grand Duke. Langer's website was last updated in 2009.

On 3 June 2010, Travis McHenry again proclaimed himself to be the paramount leader of Westarctica, which he reinvented as the Protectorate of Westarctica, complete with a new flag, and Antarctic territorial pretensions of a more limited extent.^[3]

As far as is known, neither McHenry, Karns, Langer nor any other member of Westarctica have ever set foot anywhere near the Antarctic continent, and as of April 2011, the only physical evidence of Westarctica’s existence outside the internet are its coins, which were designed, produced, marketed and sold by Jorge Fernandez Vidal.^[4]

References

↑ Travis McHenry at The Internet Movie Database - Access date: 24 April 2011
↑ Into the Abyss: the Memoirs of a Paranormal Adventurer, by Travis McHenry - Access date: 24 April 2011
↑ The Grand Duchy of Westarctica (West-Antarctica) Columbus Magazine, by Mariska van Brederode, June 2010 - Access date: 24 April 2011
↑ Micronations: Grand Duchy of Westarctica, USNS online numismatic catalogue - Access date: 28 April 2011